Contact device.



P. B. KLOPP. CONTACT DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED 1330.13.1906.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

WITNESSES 7/ INVENTOH 11-1: NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTON 4: r:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK B. KLOPF, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL SAFETY OAR CONTROLLER (30., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CONTACT DEVICE.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed December 13, 1906. Serial No. 347,654.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK B. Know, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Contact Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to contact devices which are adapted to close electric circuits.

The device which I have chosen to illustrate my invention in this application is particularly adapted and designed for use with an elevator car to operate signals, locking devices, etc., the contact device being positioned on the car so as to engage a fixed shoe located in the elevator shaft when the car passes and to close the electric circuit between the contact device and the shoe.

One of the objects sought to be obtained by my invention is to provide a device of such (.zonstruction that the operation thereof as it engages the fixed shoe in the elevator shaft is noiseless but will at the same time preserve a good electric contact between the shoe and the contact device. To accomplish this result in the device herein shown and described to illustrate my invention I have provided a suitable casing or housing in which I have mounted a pair of movable carrier arms. Each of these carrier arms is provided with a contact member pivotally mounted thereon and resilient means, such as springs, are provided for holding these carrier arms and contact members in their normal or operative positions. This provides for a yielding movement in two directions and on account of the free, yielding movement thus provided the noise which would be occasioned by rigidly attached contact engaging the contact shoe is avoided while at the same time a more perfect contact is insured, as variations in distance between the contact device on the car and the shoe in the shaft is provided for the movement of the several parts of the device.

The details of construction of a device such as above described, illustrating one embodiment of my invention, are shown in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a front view, partially in section, of a contact device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partially in section, of the device shown in Fig. 1.

A casing or housing of suitable material,

comprising a cover 1 secured to a base 2, is shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A pair of carrier arms 4: and 4 are hinged or pivoted at 5 and 5' upon suitable supports, such as 3 and 3, which are insulated from the base. A spring such as 6 is so positioned in relation to each of the said carrier arms as to hold the same in their normal position. Contact brushes 7 and 7 are carried by pivotally attached supports 8 and 8 mounted upon the carrier arms 4 and 1, respectively. Springs 9 and 9 attached to the members 8 and 8 normally hold the same in their normal or central position, the operative ends of the springs being attached to pins 10 and 10, respectively, which may be adjusted in the carrier arm to vary the tension of the springs.

The terminal screw 11 in the brush carrier 8 provides means for attaching a flexible wire connection 12 to the brush carrier 8 to connect the same with the terminal post 13. This terminal post 13 may be mounted upon the base 2 and insulated therefrom forming a connection for the line 14:. A terminal post is also provided for the line 1a and connected with the brush carrier 8 by the flexible connection 12 in a similar manner.

The contact device above described may be attached to an elevator car and a pair of contact shoes, such as indicated at 15, may be mounted in the elevator shaft. As the car passes the contact shoe 15 the outer end of the brush 7 will be brought into engage ment therewith and will be swung upon its pivot to the position indicated by the dotted out-line in Fig. 2, either up or down, depending upon the direction in which the car is moving. This movement of the brush 7 and its carrier 8 extends the spring 9 which, as soon as the brush has passed oil from the shoe 15, will return the same to its central position.

As the distance between the fixed contact shoe 15 and the car will vary it is necessary to provide for this variation and this is done in my device in'a simple manner by means of the swinging movement of the carrier arm 4 about its pivot 5.

It has been found by many experiments with devices of this nature when a yielding Y movement in two directions, such as is provided in the construction above described is desired, that the brush passes into and out of engagement with the shoe without noise and that a good electrical contact is provided regardless of the variations in distance between the fixed shoe and the device on the car or of inequalities on the contact surface. These two features are important in devices of this nature and the desired results are ob tained in a construction such as described in a very simple manner.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention designed without departing from the scope thereof, I intend that all matter contained in the above construction or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative merely of an operative embodiment of my invention and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is Y 1. In a contact device, in combination, a carrier, a contact member pivotally mounted on said carrier permitting the same to be swung upon its pivot when broughtinto engagement with a second contact to either side of its central position, and resilient means operatively connected to said contact member and adapted to hold the same in engagement with said secondcontact and to return. it to its central position when out of engagement therewith.

2. In a contact device, in combination, a movable carrier, a contact member pivotally mounted at one end of said carrier permitting the same to be swung upon said pivot when brought into engagement with a. sec ond contact to either side of its central. position, and resilient means operatively connected to said contact member and adapted to hold the same in engagement with said second contact and to return it toits central position when out of engagement therewith.

3. In a contact device, in combination, a swinging carrier pivotally mounted at one end upon a support, a support for said carrier, resilient means operatively connected to said carrier to hold. the same in position, a contact member pivotally mounted at the opposite end of said carrier and adapted to be swung upon said pivot when brought into engagement with a second contact member to either side of its central position, and resilient means operatively connected to and adapted to hold said contact member in en-' gagement with said second contact and to return it to its central position when out of engagement therewith.

4. In a contact device, in combination, a casing, a carrier pivotally mounted in said casing, a contact member pivotally mounted on said carrier and projecting through an opening in said casing, and resilient means cooperating with said carrier and contact .member to hold the same in an operative position.

5. In a contact device, in combination, a casing, a carrier pivotally mounted in said 'casing and insulated therefrom, a contact member pivotally mounted on said carrier and pro3ect1ng through an opening 111 said 5 casing, and resilient means cooperating with said carrier and contact member to hold the same in an. operative position.

6. In a contact device, in combination, a casing, a plurality of carriers pivotally mounted in said casing and insulated there from and from. each other, a contact member pivotally mounted on each of said carriers and projecting through an opening in said casing, and resilient means cooperating with each of said carriers and contact members to gagement with. said second contact and to returnthe same to its central or normal position when out of engagement therewith.

Signed at the city of New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 6th day of Dec. A. D. 1906.

FRANK B. KLOPF. IVitnesses LEWIS J. DooLrrTLn, H. W..FoRsYT1-I. 

